Disclaimer:

A. I do not own any of the characters stated below, except for the following:

1. Hideyoshi Higurashi - Father of Kagome and Kikyou

2. Kun-Loon - Late mother of Kagome

B. This story is purely fictional and original. Should any part of the plot resemble any other piece of article, it is purely coincidental and nothing intentional.

"Kagome, please hurry up!" Kikyou rushed out of the train and shouted at Kagome as she stood on the platform.

"What's the hurry? The train can wait."

Kikyou shook her head and sighed. She looked to her left and asked, "Sango, do you think you could help me out on this one? If we don't hurry, we're going to be so late. I don't want to get punished on my first day."

Sango was Kagome's best friend and they were of the same grade. She, too, was from a rich family but she was nowhere as spoilt and pampered as Kagome.

She left the luggage beside Kikyou and went up the train. She whispered a few words to Kagome and the latter's face lit up immediately. She nudged Kagome playfully and they quickly got out of the train, with Kagome's house helper dragging the suitcases down.

"Kikyou," Kagome said to her older sister as she hurried off in the opposite direction, towards the limousine that would bring them to the school. "Let's go already!"

Kikyou gave Sango a wide-eyed look. "What-"

"I just told her that if we were early, we'd get to drop a class."

"What?" Kikyou was shocked. Was that even true?

Sango answered the question Kikyou had raised in her mind. "Of course it isn't true. And look at the time. We definitely won't be the first few to reach." Sango winked playfully at her, earning a smile from Kikyou. "So, wouldn't you say it's time to go?"

Kikyou nodded and as the two house helpers put the luggage in a separate car (as they had too many altogether), she couldn't help but feel excited about the start of a new journey in Kenshin ("KS") International School.

"This is a school of prestige with very strict code and conduct. Males and females are not to interact in inappropriate ways. On ordinary school days, after nine p.m., males are strictly restricted to their respective houses – Midori and Aoi - while the females are strictly restricted to the Murasaki and Shiro houses. All students are strictly advised to read the Code of Conduct Guide Chapter 143 paragraph 29 on …"

"I'm not listening to this. It's just boring crap." Kagome crossed her arms and looked up at Headmaster Kaede who stood rigid on the stage. I'm going to explore the school. See you at the dorm later, Sango." And with that, she left the assembly.

"Kagome!" Kikyou whispered but she knew that it was to no avail – Kagome Higurashi did whatever she pleased all the time and no one could stop her, except her father. But even then, he loved her too much to even chide her.

Headmaster Kaede stopped whatever she was saying and the whole school turned to look at where she was staring. She was about to shout out to the student who was leaving the assembly when she saw who it was. It was the youngest Higurashi girl. Her father had invested a lot into this school and to be fair, he did call and warn her in advance about his daughter.

She let it go and continued with her speech, drawing the attention of the rest of the students back to her, except for the attention of one.

Inuyasha watched from a few rows behind as the girl with dark brown hair left the assembly. Her hair was not tied up and for someone so slight, she walked with a pride in her steps that made it hard not to notice. He also noticed someone calling out to her. She was a beauty, Inuyasha couldn't help but think. Her hair, unlike the other girl was tied up in a ponytail and her brown eyes were wide and there was a soft look in them. His eyes darted back and forth as the girl who left turned around and shook her head defiantly at the other girl. It was only then that he noticed the similarity between the two girls.

They must be sisters, he thought. Keh. Whatever.

Girls were too troublesome for him. All he wanted out of high school was to have fun. As he looked over, he saw Miroku doing his usual business – peeking around slyly at the pretty girls. Inuyasha was certain that he had already picked his targets and ranked them accordingly. Inuyasha smiled to himself. He was glad about the room arrangements - they were roommates in the Aoi house. The only flaw was that Sesshoumaru was in the other house (Midori). Ah well, Inuyasha thought, he's a stick-in-the-mud anyway.

He watched the girl from the corner of his eye as she continued walking off, away from the assembly. But boy, she has some guts.

Buildings, buildings, and more buildings. Kagome was utterly bored by this place. Walking on, she finally saw something that interested her.

There was a small pavilion behind the house of Aoi. It looked out of place and Kagome loved it. The pavilion had slanted brick roofs that were painted red, though most of the bricks had already fallen off, leaving the roof almost bare. The place looked as if no one visited nor took care of it on a regular basis for a long time. Maple leafs were strewn all over the ground, both red and yellow ones. She bent down and picked one up. She was about to get up when she heard the rustle of leaves and it was as if someone was whispering to her.

Kagome~

It sounded like her mum.

"Mum?" she whispered back tentatively.

But as sudden as it came, the breeze came to a halt. The leaves stopped rustling and the whispers hung in mid-air.

Kagome shook her head and dropped the leaf. This wasn't real, she told herself.

After all, she had no idea what her mum's voice would have sounded like.

Inuyasha looked around.

"Here, Inuyasha!" Miroku waved his hand from a distance.

"Oi, where were you?"

"I've been busy studying the curriculum, of course."

"Keh! Come off it. Which one is it?"

"2 o'clock to your right. Her name's Sakura."

"Sakura?" Inuyasha gave the girl a quick glance. "She's not even that pretty to deserve that name."

"Are you sure we're looking at the same girl?"

"Whatever. Come on, let's go. I hear there's a freshman party going on around here."

"Freshman parties are lame," Miroku gave a fake yawn.

Inuyasha glanced sideways at him. "It's at the Shiro house."

Miroku's eyes immediately lit up with glee. "Did you say …"

"Yeah, I did. The Shiro house, full of girls."

Miroku hooked an arm over Inuyasha's shoulder. "Ah, what wouldn't I give for my best pal in the whole wide world?"

Inuyasha laughed and shrugged Miroku's arm off. "I know just what you wouldn't give."

"What?" Miroku challenged.

"GIRLS."

Miroku laughed. As he turned around to give another girl a playful wink, Inuyasha thought, high school, here we come.

"I don't want to go. It sounds boring." Kagome crossed her arms at Sango and pouted. "Can't we do something else?"

"Like what?"

Kagome smiled earnestly at Sango and for a moment there, she looked like she was a five year old trying to persuade her mother to buy a toy for her. "Scrabble?"

"What?" Sango laughed. "Come on, Kagome. We're in high school. We ought to have a little fun when we're here!"

"Since when were parties fun? Each one I went to back at home was so boring that I had to stop myself from yawning every millisecond. And Daddy understood – he'd let me appear for the first half an hour and then he'd let me slip away quietly!" Kagome went back to pouting.

"I assure you," Sango placed both hands on Kagome's shoulders, "this party won't be the same."

Kagome looked up at her slightly taller friend. "I don't have anything to wear."

Sango laughed. "You have GOT to be kidding me."

Kagome shrugged.

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

"Not when she's being so lame. Come on, the party will be fun!"

"Fine - I'll go. But it'd better be fun, like you said, or I won't even be there for half an hour."

"Yes, yes my princess. Now let's find you something to wear. I told Kikyou we'd meet her at her room in an hour's time."

"Ah," Kagome let out an indignant gasp, "you already knew I would agree!"

And with a wink, Sango replied, "Sure. What are friends for, right?"

Kagura was lying down on her bed when she saw Kikyou enter the room.

"Erm, are you Kagura?"

"Yeah," came the short reply from behind a thick book.

"I'm Kikyou."

Kagura nodded and went back to the book she was reading. Kikyou glanced at the title of the book she was reading – 'Savages' – and quickly went back to her unpacking.

After fifteen minutes, the environment got too quiet that Kikyou found it stifling. So she decided to make small talk. "Are you going to the party later? Everyone's talking about it."

Kagura looked up briefly and shrugged before she continued reading.

Ok.. So much for small talk, Kikyou thought. She looked over again quickly at the purple haired girl wearing a lime green mini skirt and an electric blue tank top and wondered for a brief moment what her story was.

But there was no time to think about such things now. Kikyou quickly dressed for the party in the attached bathroom and sat on her bed, while she waited for Sango and Kagome, if Kagome was even going.

She did love her half-sister but sometimes she hated her for some of the things she did and the things she got away with. Sometimes she felt as though she was the outsider that came to the family late.

Her train of thoughts stopped in its tracks as Kikyou heard a knock on her door.

**End - Chapter Two: Whispers